Teacher contract talks sluggish

No deal in place as expiration date nears.

No deal in place as expiration date nears.

August 04, 2007|MICHAEL WANBAUGH Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Contract talks between the teachers union and the school corporation are expected to extend well into the school year, both camps confirmed. The current contract for teachers in the South Bend Community School Corp. is set to expire on Aug. 15. The first day of classes this year is Aug. 14. Negotiations between the school corporation and the National Education Association-South Bend began in May and show no signs of concluding soon. Mary Ann Zimmerman, Uniserv director of the NEA-SB, said that doesn't necessarily mean the process is in trouble. "You shouldn't read anything into that," she explained. "We have a large number of issues we're talking about, so we suspected it would take a while. We haven't even exchanged economic proposals yet." Zimmerman said contract language about class size, planning time, certification, building safety and how jobs are filled are among the many issues being discussed. Another bargaining session is scheduled for Wednesday. Once an agreement is reached, it must be ratified by a vote of teachers and school trustees. The current two-year contract, which included 1 percent salary increases each year, was approved in June 2005. When it expires in two weeks, teachers will continue to work under its language until a new deal is reached. "It effectively rolls over," said schools Superintendent Robert L. Zimmerman. "These negotiations have been slow and difficult, but I think the tone at the bargaining table has been congenial and collaborative." The superintendent and the NEA-SB director are not related. Neither would speculate on a time frame for reaching an agreement. "This is a bigger project than we've had in the past," Mary Ann Zimmerman said. "We've opened up non-economic issues that haven't been addressed in the last two rounds of negotiations. "It's not everything, but it's a lot."Staff writer Michael Wanbaugh: mwanbaugh@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6176